St. John’s stuns 3rd-ranked Duke

NEW YORK  Teams that beat Duke have reason to celebrate. Teams that blow Duke out of the building should be able to party all night.

So, how long will the St. John’s players be allowed to celebrate Sunday’s 93-78 victory over No. 3 Duke—a game that wasn’t as close as the final score indicated?

“Coach Lav said we had two hours to celebrate and then we have to get ready for Rutgers,” senior forward Justin Burrell said, referring to first-year coach Steve Lavin and the Red Storm’s next opponent on Wednesday.

Two hours? It will take longer than that just to go over the highlight plays of a game that St. John’s had won by halftime. Those last 20 minutes were just a formality.

“I felt like we were ready. The guys wanted to play this game,” Duke guard Nolan Smith said. “We wanted to be here but they came out from the jump ball and kicked our butts.”

It wasn’t that St. John’s

(12-8) beat the Blue Devils

(19-2), it was the way it happened.

St. John’s was finishing a stretch of eight straight games against ranked teams. This win gave them three wins in that span. It was enough to have Lavin waving his arms to the crowd at a media timeout in the second half.

“You’re caught up in the moment of the game, and I wanted St. John’s fans to come to the party in terms of supporting the players on the court,” Lavin said.

The Red Storm, who had lost three straight and five of six, took control early and had a

46-25 lead at halftime.

Dwight Hardy had 26 points for St. John’s, while Justin Brownlee had 20 points, nine rebounds and six assists.

Smith led Duke with 32 points, and Kyle Singler added 20.

Big Ten

n (25) Michigan State 84, Indiana 83, OT—At East Lansing, Mich., Draymond Green made a go-ahead shot with 29.3 seconds left and the Spartans held on for a win over the Hoosiers.

Hoosiers guard Jordan Hulls, who got tied up by Spartans center Derrick Nix with 1.2 seconds left, was long on a three-pointer just before the buzzer.

Michigan State (13-8, 5-4) avoided its first four-game losing streak in four years.

Indiana (11-11, 2-7) had a shot to beat back-to-back ranked teams for the first time in Tom Crean’s three seasons, but Jeremiah Rivers missed free throws that would’ve sealed the victory in regulation.

n Michigan 87, Iowa 73—At Ann Arbor, Mich., Darius Morris had 12 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds for the third triple-double in school history.

Morris became the first Michigan player with a triple-double since Manny Harris on Nov. 14, 2009. Gary Grant also had one in the 1987 NCAA tournament vs. North Carolina.